Behind a Screen
by Cororo
Summary: Alfred brings Arthur a birthday present that is supposed to become his newest friend. Vocaloid parody  in a way . Summary is bad, but in general, it's MasterxVocaloid, or in this case, ArthurxKiku. Rated T for a little bit of language.
1. Chapter 1: Niholoid

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Hetalia or Vocaloid related. I simply own this fanfiction. However, even the concept for this story is based off of a fancomic from pixiv. C: **

**This is a parallel AU story. I don't know what the heck Arthur does for a job or anything, but… Yeah, they all live and interact. :D**

**I hope you all enjoy although this is only my second ever story I've ever seriously written. Haha. (Even if I'm not done yet) **

Ch. 1: Niholoid

"Hey Arthur! Open up!"

Alfred's obnoxious knocking didn't seem like it was going to be stopping anytime soon until I end up opening the bloody door for him.

Why does he always have the worst timing? I was simply enjoying my peaceful day off with a few friends of mine, laughing and watching in awe as Tinkerbelle showed off her newest flying stunts.

But of course these fun times came to an abrupt end far too early on in the day just because of the disturbance caused by a certain American.

"I'm coming, you git! Calm down," I yelled from the confines of my own living room. I sighed and quickly paced myself toward the door in hopes of getting the younger blond off of my property and sent back to the place he belongs once and for all: AMERICA.

I pulled the door open harshly and as I was getting ready to kick the other man in his only manly spot available on his body, I noticed a relatively large brown box within his hands.

"…What is that?" I asked, obviously a bit surprised and suspicious both at the same time if that was even possible.

The other man simply grinned his signature, large smile and ripped open this mysterious box right in front of me.

What exactly _is_ he doing?

Before I was given any more time to question his unusual behavior, he pulled out yet another box from the now disheveled larger box.

But this box was different than the last.

It was smaller.

It had pictures.

And most peculiar of all, the box claims it was a "Vocaloid" program.

"Alfred, seriously. What kind of bloody trick are you trying to pull on me this time? I'm not going to fall for i-"

"Happy birthday Arthur!"

Right… It was my birthday. Well, to be honest, I didn't think he'd remember at all, but nonetheless, I continued staring at the other man, wanting more of an explanation rather than just a simple congratulation message. That's something that could be given with a letter or even e-mail, after all.

"But please Arthur," he whined. "Just this once, trust me, you'll love this! It's not a prank or anything. And it's a gift that I picked out for you with all of my heart. It's something that's perfect for you!"

Perfect for me? And he even picked it out for me? Well… that's unusual.

"Because you see, that Vocaloid actually enables you to become friends with them! It's a new feature that they added! And since you don't have any friends, I thought it'd be something that you'd absolutely love!"

That wanker… "JUST GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

"Enjoy your present and hope you guys get along well! Your first real friend! HAHAHAHA "

….

And with that, he left my house as quickly and suddenly as he appeared at my house earlier.

A friend, eh…?

Now I am one to be skeptical about this kind of present especially if it's from that annoying American, but I decided to install this program nonetheless. It doesn't hurt to at least try it out, right? It _is_ a birthday present, after all.

It's not that I have any interest in this at all. It's only because it'd be a waste to throw away.

That's what I kept telling myself.

Before I knew it, the program had finished installing, and I heard a soft voice coming from my screen.

"Hello and nice to meet you master. I'm Niholoid, but please simply call me Kiku."

Those were the first words I heard from my Vocaloid.

Niholoid.

Kiku.

I was awestruck at the sight of figure in front of me, or shall I say, on the other side of the computer screen. Magnificently dark hair and those eyes that are far more captivating than I'm sure it's meant to be.

"You _are_ my 'master', correct…?", he asked in confusion.

I immediately broke out of my haze and fidgeted around in my chair, attempting to keep my own composure. "Y-Yeah… I'm your owner I guess. Or… master, if that's what you want to call me."

I don't know why Kiku seemed to be panicking but he bowed several times after my previous statement then looked back up at my face in embarrassment. "Wait, did you not want me to call you 'master'? Should I call you something else if you're not comfortable…? I could go with 'my lord' or 'sir' even…!"

_He really… _

"Nah, that's fine. Just keep calling me 'master'."

…_seems so human. _

He gave a sigh of relief then straightened himself back up. "Let me reintroduce myself. I'm a Vocaloid, but please do call me Kiku. I can sing just about any type of song, but my fortes are enka(1) and anime songs. Would you like to try me out?"

…I have no idea what the hell he just said. Enka? "Well, I guess you can just sing anything you feel like."

"Yes, master."

He heaved in a deep breath, closed his eyes then began singing. His voice was so different from any other voice I've ever heard. Ever single word and syllable, beat and tempo flowed perfectly across his tongue and into my ears.

So this is real music.

I became so engrossed in Kiku's voice, that it took me a while after he finished singing to recover from the effects of the voice. "Th-…That's amazing, Kiku!", I yelled ecstatically and without a second thought, leaned over to hug my own computer screen.

Yes, hug.

"Your voice was enchanting and yet mysterious sounding at the same time! Do you want to sing again for me?"

Without any protests, he gave an even softer smile than before, clearly becoming less nervous by the second, then began singing in that voice that I fell in love with so much.

Just this once, Alfred, I'll admit you got me a great gift.

...

Do you remember Arthur from earlier? He simply slammed the entrance closed, didn't he? He forgot to lock that little door. So Alfred used that to his advantage and subtly watched the two interact from the entrance. Technically, he isn't inside the house, so no matter what happens, Arthur can't call the cops on him for breaking in. See, he's a genius!

Nonetheless, once he saw that both Kiku and Arthur seemed to be getting along pretty well, he closed the door behind him and slowly began to walk back toward his house, a solemn expression plastered across his face, very uncharacteristic for a hero like him.

"I really do wish them the best of luck… Kiku, give it your all…"

_**(1) Enka: Genre of song sung in Japan that resembles traditional Japanese music style **_

**A/N: Thanks in advance to everybody that reads this thing! Yes, this is an ongoing story, and I'm still currently writing it. I expect it to be about… 5 chapters? But then again, that's only tentative so don't take my word for it. **

**However, this was a very fun story to write so far and I hope you guys enjoy it at least to some extent! :D**

**Although looking back on this now, I'm actually not quite fond of the beginning portion of this so I may change up the introduction sometime within the near future. =w=/'' -and so many grammatical errors I noticed after publishing... ;;; sniff- **

**Anyways, review please because they make me happy and they give me a bit more of an idea of what I can improve on and what you guys liked/disliked. :) Thank you and love you all! **


	2. Chapter 2: Kiku

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or Vocaloid. If I did, there'd be nothing but gay men prancing about in boxers. I kid you not. **

**And I bring you all the 2****nd**** chapter! …However, I really do need to think up of better chapter titles. So lack of being able to think of a decent title, I just named it "Kiku". See, very unoriginal. **

**Oh, and for those of you who don't know, whenever I just randomly put [empty line] … [empty line], that just means I'm changing scenes or times since I have no idea how to make a line like some people do. LOL. lD''' **

**Nonetheless, enjoy!**

Ch. 2: Kiku

"Hey, Kiku. Can you sing me that song you usually sing?"

"Of course. And would the current volume be fine with you? Here I go…"

…

"You know, Arthur, you've been hooked on Kiku a lot lately, haven't you?", Alfred grinned knowingly in my direction.

Really annoying seeing that expression on his face.

"Th-There's nothing wrong with liking that program thing… B-Because… You know, that Vocaloid functions quite well and…"

"He's cute, isn't he?"

Why does he always have to interject my statements in the most awkward of ways!

"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO JUMP TO THE ODDEST CONCLUSIONS! H-H-H-He's a computer program…! I would never look at a program in those kind of eyes! B-But I guess I might kind of understand what you might mean with Kiku being 'cute' but… Th-that's not the point…!" Calm down, Arthur. Calm down… As long as I keep my composer in front of this American man, I should be just fine… See, I'll simply distract myself by sipping this tea sitting next to me like I was earlier before that Alfred interrupted m-…

"YOU INTERRUPTED MY PEACEFUL TEA TIME, YOU WANKER! Just hurry up and get out! All you ever do is cause more trouble for me!"

But of course, as usual, he completely ignored my statement and simply continued to grin toward me. "Well, at least it seems like you really enjoy that Vocaloid. Be nice to Kiku, alright?"

"…Sure… I'll at least be a little nice to him…"

…

Even after Alfred left, I couldn't seem to get his words out of my head.

_"Be nice to Kiku"_

It was almost as if he treated that Vocaloid thing as a person… Somebody he really cherishes and cares for… But he, more than anybody around, should know that Kiku is only a program installed onto the computer.

A Vocaloid.

That means even if I ever actually decided to abuse Kiku, it really wouldn't matter.

Then why am I worrying so much about him?

"—…Master. Master? You seem to be quite distracted today. Are you feeling alright?"

That's Kiku's voice… I was completely lost in my own thoughts that I forgot I had this program opened up again.

"Oh… Yeah. I'm fine. I guess I just feel a little sick. Maybe it's a cold or something."

"Well if you start to feel very ill, then please do lay down in your bed to rest your head," he said worriedly.

Worriedly. At least that's what it looked like. This program really does seem realistic. To the point Kiku even seems to have emotions…

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I reassured the other. "You better not get too sick yourself!"

…Wait… What did I just say?

He seemed to be staring at me just as much confused as I was about myself at this point.

"O-Oh s-s-sorry Kiku! You're just a computer software program. I completely forgot about that. Of course you won't get sick." I attempted to laugh away the awkwardness that was slowly growing around me.

Yet… He continued to stare. But after some time, he gave me one of his soft smiles that I adore so much. "Thank you Arthur-san… I am very blessed that you are my master. You care so much about me… A mere computer software program, as you stated earlier."

"I'm glad to have met you too, Kiku."

…

"Hey, Alfred. You just got here. Why don't you at least stay for some scones or something. I'm sure Kiku won't mind waiting a little longer until I boot him up since I'm only speaking to a dimwit like you anyways."

Alfred glanced back toward me then apologized rather quickly. He must be hurrying off someplace important if he's so eager to leave. And hey, he even added a "sorry" in there.

"…You see, I have to go meet a friend at the hospital really quickly. I promised I'd go see them," he replied.

"Oh… Alright."

"You aren't going to be leaving anyplace, Arthur? No wonder you have no friends!"

I laughed at his statement then walked back deeper into my house, ignoring all of Alfred's words. "I haven't talked to Kiku at all today, so after that, I guess I'll go get some fresh air. Definitely not with you though. With my lovely friends that you claim I don't have. WHICH I DO!"

And once I saw his figure wasn't retreating, I pushed him out of my house and slammed the door right into his face. Just like the time he introduced Kiku to me.

"No need to hide your embarrassment Arthur! …And I don't think Kiku's going to be able to talk to you at all today…"

…

"Kiku…?"

I restarted the program over and over. Praying, hoping I would be able to talk to that boy again. That mysterious man behind the screen.

But no matter how many times I tried to open and close it, Kiku refused to come out.

"…Where the hell are you, Kiku…?"

**

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**A/N: **

…**See, I can think up of plotlines, it's just putting them on paper is horrendously difficult for me… orz||| But I guess that's what practicing's for! **

**HA! This is the second chapter of my second ever story I've ever written and this is in the second language I've ever learned. And 2 is my favorite number. 8D SWEET. **

**But what do you all think so far? Good? Bad? Horrible? Awesome? Chill? Cliché? **

**Give me your honest input, because I need to improve my writing style, I'm aware, but I've got to know what the general public so desperately wants and thinks about my story! **

**To those who have reviewed so far… I LOVE YOU. **

**People who have favorited this story… I LOVE YOU. **

**People who have added this story to their alerts… I LOVE YOU GUYS TOO. **

**Anyways, before I end up lengthening this author's note much longer than I even want, I'll just end it with this. Thanks to everybody who has read this far in general and I should have my 3****rd**** chapter written up and posted if I see enough people who are interested to see the rest played out. :)**


	3. Chapter 3: The Disappearance of Niholoid

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia OR Vocaloid but if I did, every character would be fabulously flamboyant and prance around in no clothes, their vital parts perfectly being covered in roses. Wait, what? That sounds like a world full of Frances! **

**The title is based off of a quite popular Hatsune Miku song. I know, the chapter title's still not that intriguing but it's better than the last 2...! LOL. **

**But enjoy, nonethless~ **

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Ch. 3: The Disappearance of Niholoid

After 2 hours of fiddling with the computer, I finally decided to give up.

Kiku will come back eventually. There's nothing to be worried about.

...Or so I told myself.

Sure I gave up attempting to figure out what the heck happened to Kiku, but that doesn't mean I completely abandoned all thought processes about him. I continued to think about him and constantly worried about him. I know, it's stupid hearing me say that about a computer program, but I just couldn't help it...

This almost got me more riled up than the time Tinker Bell temporarily lost her flying abilities all because that idiotic American brat claimed he didn't believe in fairies anymore. But enough of that memory, I can continue narrating that story some other day.

But it seems Kiku had grown to become a larger part of my daily life than I've ever imagined. I just couldn't find any motivation to get myself to enjoy the rest of the day. My leprechaun and fairy friends all tried to get me out of the house to grab some fresh air, but obviously it didn't work.

For the first day in my life, I locked myself in my own room, ignoring everybody until the next day came.

"Maybe it's all just a dream," I thought to myself. "He'll be back in no time..."

And almost as if those words were magic, I ran down the next morning to where I left my laptop just the day before to find Kiku standing on the other side of my screen as usual.

"K-Kiku...! You're actually here," I yelled, my eyes beaming in excitement as I held the tears back that were threatening to come out at any moment.

"I apologize about the other day," he began. "I'm sure I made you worry more than I should have..." His manners were just as formal as usual, but there was definitely something wrong with the way he's acting right now.

"It's alright, Kiku. Don't get so worked up about it. Just the fact that you're able to hold a regular conversation with me again should mean you're feeling better, right?"

Yeah, there's definitely something wrong with him. He refused to reply back to my statement right away, his eyes seeming to roam everywhere but in my direction.

Not after long, he quickly brought his gaze back up toward my face showing me a part of Kiku I've never seen before: a concerned, almost somber expression on his face.

"Master... I have something I need to inform you about."

Inform me? With that much seriousness seeping from his entire body, I knew this wasn't going to be like our average conversation. It felt much more intense than our usual exchange of words. There was definitely something wrong with him.

"You see," he began, sadness laced within his voice, "I was… born with a bug within my program."

A bug…? "That stuff is dangerous and can damage you as you continue being used, right…? Why didn't you tell me!"

Kiku turned away for a second then brought his eyes back up to my face. "It's because I didn't want you to uninstall me… I was afraid that if I told you, you'd quickly get rid of me then forget about me as if I never existed… Nobody would ever want a broken program, after all. But I apologize greatly, master for keeping this from you." He laughed under his breath lightly, apparently trying with all his might to keep smiling.

But I could tell that smile wasn't genuine. His genuine smile was something I've been seeing everyday for quite some time, so it was quite easy to decipher the fact that he was hiding his true feelings. I don't blame him. He's a computer program built to please the "master" and I enjoy his smile, so it's only natural for him to want to smile for me. But it's just not the same…

"You idiot," I yelled. "Who the hell ever said I was going to uninstall you and forget about you for all of eternity! I sure as hell didn't and never would. If you weren't on the other side of this screen, I'd definitely have smacked you in the face by now…! …But… Can that bug be fixed…?"

An awkward silence was shared between us until broken by his voice.

"Master… I have something I would like you to decide for me."

Me? Decide?

"The bug that is prevalent within my program will most likely destroy me within a year if left unhandled by the experts. However, with the newest technology, it is said that this bug may be taken care of and destroyed."

"Th-Then go get it fix-…"

" But you see, the problem with that is that I will have to be absent from your presence for months, and if something goes wrong with the procedure, the bug may have the chance of destroying me and my program faster than intended…"

You've got to be kidding me… They're both such risky choices. "Kiku… What do you want to do? This is your life we're speaking of…"

There I go again. Unconsciously viewing Kiku as a human being. But the longer we interact with each other, the more I start to believe he really is alive. I know he's on the other side of the screen in my computer so that's proof enough that he's not living and breathing like us humans but I can't help it. To me, Kiku _is_ living.

While I was consumed in these thoughts, Kiku spoke up, gaining back my attention.

"There's only one thing I would like to do, and that is to follow the orders of the one I love, Master."

What…? Is he implying something that I shouldn't be thinking…?

"If you would love for me to spend all of my time with you every day for the next year, that would be absolutely fine with me. Then, of course, if you're willing to wait for months for my return, no matter how hard it may be, I would be willing to take that risk."

"…You git… You're a damn software… Don't use words like 'love' on me…"

Then there's that smile. That actual, _genuine_ smile. Much more different than the one given earlier.

"I'll wait for you no matter how long it'll take you, Kiku," I said, bringing my hands up against the screen wishing that I could feel the true warmth of his body. "I'm not going to wait for you for your sake… It's for my own, got it? So… so…"

"Master. There are some tears streaming down your face…"

…Wow, there really are… And it didn't seem like the tears were going to be stopping anytime soon.

He pulled the sleeves of his kimono up to his elbows, for the first time in our acquaintance showing me his white skin underneath his clothing, then brought his own hands up to his side of the screen.

Just for that moment, I could almost feel his soft hands against my own.

"You better not cheat on me in my absence," he said jokingly, chuckling.

"W-Well then that means you're going to have to come back pretty soon, you bloody git."

He closed his eyes and slowly pulled his face closer to his side of the screen, leaving the smallest of kisses there. "Well then master… Ittekimasu. * "

"Wait, Kiku…!"

_And after that day, the program refused to open up… _

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_*** Ittekimasu: Japanese phrase roughly along the lines of "I will be leaving" or an equivalent to the English "goodbye"**_

**A/N: Hooray, I'm done with this chapter and I'm actually quite happy with this chapter! ...Well, at least more so than the other 2. Haha. XD **

**I may have gotten a tad bit OOC from time to time, but if you have read all the way here, you would've noticed that by now. I'll try to fix it, I swear...! **

**And I really need somebody to edit my chapters for me or something... DX **

**Also, thank you all so much for even reading this far and for everybody who have reviewed/read/subscribed/etc. I absolutely love you all! ;u; I have been making sure to reply to every review, so if I haven't done so, I apologize! I will attempt to continue this throughout this story and my other ones~ **

**I believe this story will end in about 2 more chapters, so be on the lookout! (But even then, these plans are still tentative) **


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